There is a first mention of an upcoming "competition structure" and "licensing structure/rating system" for rFactor2 that appears to be a "shot across the bow" of iRacing rather than a copy-cat move.

The McLaren's World's Fastest Gamer competition will spawn S397's first paid content, the McLaren 650s GT3 that's to be used in the competition. Thankfully they are seeing fit to release their Zandvoort free though. Stunning screens shots as screen shots usually are.

Another "soon" for the end of the beta period for DX11. Surprisingly, when that comes, the end of DX9 will not be the result...a tacit acknowledgment perhaps, that there is still a significant portion of the community that just can't make DX11 work for them.

There are some more teasers on the new HTML based UI. Cool one: the setups widgets will show what parameters/specs you've altered as you go about tinkering with a setup with a font colour change!

No longer just working on or exploring options, screen overlays for DX11 has a solution, again with HTML.

S-397's August Roadmap Update is out and there are some interesting things if nothing immediately forthcoming.Though not offered as an excuse for sparse news, mentioning summer vacations in the first paragraph certainly is one. No surprise really, that seems to be par for the course even in ISI days and I bet WFG snatched some team focus this summer.

S-397 shows us some more screenies of the new UI and although it appears even duller than the current scheme (black on grey - perhaps colours are the last line item in the dev plan). At least they are using the available screen real estate and acknowledging with smaller, less cartoonish fonts and graphics, that FHD displays are now essentially ubiquitous and they can stop designing UI's for turn of the century TV screens and CRT monitors. The roll-out of the new UI may be heading down the same road as the DX11-VR of beta testing ("in the coming weeks") and an optional "public beta release". If that were to coincide with the end of DX11 beta, I wouldn't be shocked.

Under the "Competition" heading they explain the leveraging of technology from Luminis and Luminis partners (i.e., outside of S-397 core focus on RF2) that has helped them advance the development of RF2 and it's new competition system. That is to say they have access to some other shit in-house that helps them. I will leave it to you to fathom the technical explanations because it could only be less clear to me if it were written with the Cyrillic or Kanji.

Finally, the DX11 beta period is scheduled to end at the end of September now. I assume that means they have a defined set of goals to accomplish before Steam buyers no longer will be opting in to a DX11 sim. I put it that way because it appears they intend to keep the DX9 version in development sync until the end of December. That may be a fair indication on how long it will take to implement their "exciting new solution" with regard to DX11 overlay plugins. They admitted last month that that is the reason for continuing parallel DX9 development and may be as close to an admission as we're going to get that perhaps more people than they knew were left with the agonizing either-or choice between TrackMap and DX11 and that these TrackMap and other overlay plugin loyalists are significant, by numbers and/or community stature, RF2 influencers . How much will be left to 3rd party devs and what will come "out-of-the-box" (remember the MoTec announcement from the June update?) is still up in the air. I had hoped that it'd be closely tied to the UI roll-out but a sunset for DX9 at the end of December indicates that it is far more independent.

Everyone's been wondering where the September Roadmap Update is given it's now about 10 days late. Well, it was released today: https://www.studio-397.com/2017/09/roadmap-update-september-2017/ and there ain't much meat on the bone. It might be summed up thusly: Rain soon, Bentley GT3 soon, GT3 pack now sometime in October. OK, that's perhaps a touch too cynical. The rain effects, I have to admit, in the video of the Bentley is quite stunning. The rear diffuser spray is amazing though a touch muted in volume maybe to make rain-racing more tolerable in terms of visibility. That said, I am still in no hurry to race in the rain because S397, like every other sim developer, refuses to take the human eye into account for light levels under cloudy skies. I've already wrote far too much about something I could care less about.

For anyone who bought the S-397 pay DLC GT3 Pack, it was finally released in full less than an hour ago. Includes:McLaren 650S GT3 (which most of us have)Bentley Continental GT3 (announced a few weeks back)Callaway Corvette C7 GT3-RMercedes AMG GT3Radical RXC Turbo GT3Forum announcement & comment thread: https://forum.studio-397.com/index.php?threads/new-gt3-pack-now-available.58031/Details of cars: https://www.studio-397.com/2017/10/gt3-power-pack-release/ AND!!!....More importantly for everyone, S-397 is updating the DX9 & DX11 builds to support them. Reading "between the lines" reveals that it seems essentially limited to just that so all that new UI and other stuff is still pending. Still good stuff though.

PLEASE NOTE: DX11 is still "OPEN BETA" which means you will deliberately have to opt-in to the new v1109 build if you want to install it. Otherwise your install stays at "v1108-dx11-open-beta". To refresh everyone's memory, in your Steam Library, right click "rFactor 2 [v1108-dx11-open-beta]" and choose "Properties", then click the "BETAS" tab; click the drop-down arrow for the list and choose "v1109 dx11 open beta". If you're still with DX9, you'll get the new DX9 upgrade automatically so no need to make a choice unless your willing to move to the DX11 version.

True, if by that you mean v1108 to v1109, yes, but that has always been the case. While some updates in the past have not resulted in a version number increment, this one has. The DX version shouldn't matter so long as the game version is the same.

Well, everyone who was holding their breath for the October Roadmap Update is dead or severely brain damaged. However, those with patience were rewarded just before the calendar flipped (by just a few hours). It starts with a year-end synopsis that's largely a rehash and an admission that everything is taking longer than they expected. Who hasn't been in that boat. >The new UI is in private beta testing but with no defined target date, so hard to get pumped up about it. >The Competition Infrastructure thing, even though some browser-based iteration of it was used during the WFG in the summer, is to be integrated into the game itself "eventually". Mmmm, I don't think I like the word eventually being used here. Could it be that it will still be browser-based when released publicly (and then they'll work on integration) or has it's priority waned entirely? >All the other eagerly awaited stuff is still being worked on: launcher, dedicated server and a new HUD and overlay system for plug-ins. They admit that it's taking longer than anticipated.>Nice tidbit: there is to be a new update that will address low FPS with high-quality shadow settings THIS WEEK. I knew that low FPS issues were a thing but didn't know that it had to do with shadow settings. I must check out just how far I pushed those because I think I maxxed them.>DX11 to be out of BETA & become default by...EOY 2017. That is quite a push back but at least they explain why this time.>An improved HUD may negate the need for some 3rd party overlay plugin stuff. Maybe SlowMotion's custom HUDs have inspired them! Sometime next year is less vague than eventually, but just barely.>New tire physics info straight from the man himself, Michael Borda. He describes a rather fundamental rethinking of the tire model; that's sooo cool. Despite that fact that I am of the opinion that RF2's physics is 2nd to none it it not faultless. I really hope this addresses some of the most glaringly obvious grip anomalies.>Finally, misc. stuff: Progress on upcoming content (C7.r GTE, Zandvoort, Radical & Tatuus) Motec, and acknowledgement and praise for CrewChief that may put their on spotter code improvements on the back burner.

The first 3 paragraphs hash over the new DLC Formula-e Hong Kong track releases. There’s a link to the Race Department’s “Talk & Drive” with Marcel Offermans that frankly I couldn’t bring myself to finish watching. I’m not sure if it was the content of the talk or the boring sound of the Formula Floor-Polishers in the background but, click, it was gone. If you’re a simracer but not a gearhead/auto enthusiast or maybe you’re severely hearing-impaired then maybe you’ll be interested. That’s not me.

The move to DX11 as the game default (no more “beta”!) has been promised before Xmas, a little more precise than “before year end” that was mentioned in October. Bad news for DX9ers though, they’re dropping anchor on that. It’ll remain available but no more updates for it. I shall not shed a tear if it gets the devs focused and moving ahead faster.

A new default HUD will precede the upcoming HUD/Overlay system that’s been promised since DX11 killed overlays.

The rain update is described as “perfected”. Perfected is a bold word that holds a big promise and says more than “added”, “implemented” or “introduced”. But then they give us WIP shots to show us? WTF, eh?

They say that they have “improved the ambient lighting, producing subtle differences that give the overall image a slightly more dramatic look.” “Dramatic” as opposed to “realistic” gives me pause making me wonder if we’re seeing further pandering to the You-Tube wannabe cinemaphotographers rather than getting it right from a driver’s eye POV.

I am glad to see S-397 working hard to update old content to "take advantage of these new features". I hope that really means ALL new features because there’s quite a lot of old content with old tire models and lacking chassis flex too. It is also stated that they will have a “substantial” part done before the end of the year. But “substantial” is a weasel word that the speaker gets to define.

They will be supporting all new Windows Mixed Reality headsets, more anon they say. I’ll be curious to see where that leads.

December’s Roadmap Update has been out for a while now, but I’ve been commenting so I might as well on this one too despite that it has a dearth of new information. Maybe the new author (Dom Duhan) doesn’t have top level clearance or something.

The new lighting system appears to be fully implemented with the new build. Whatever – I just want to be able to see where I’m going regardless the lighting conditions. So long as I’m not driving from the perspective of a cheap-ass fixed-aperture camera I’ll be happy.

DX11 as default build is confirmed again so no more subscribing to beta builds. They still promise that the HUD will be able to access even more data in the near future…as a Trackmap aficionado, that can’t be soon enough.

The cache folder is gone. I’m not sure that makes our admins happy but I am glad to see multi-GBs of redundant copies of component files deep-sixed from my HDD. Good riddance.

Rain is hashed over again. I know it’s cool to see but like real rainy days, I simply want to go home. Someone develop a RainX plugin, please. Mostly though, I just want all cars to default their f’ing wipers to the park position.

Finally, the interesting part - 3rd party content in the form of payware mods is formally going to be supported. Finally, this is what I expected from RF2 from almost the beginning. Mind you many dreaded this as the big sell-out and that everything will become payware. Frankly I see this as little more than a better way to exploit the ISIMotor game engine than licensing it to developers as they did in the past and in the process creating new rivals. I suspect it is cheaper and less risky to develop a sim (like the mentioned KartSim) as a mod for rFactor2 to exploit its rich, mature and constantly improving physics engine than to license it, probably with an upfront cost and ongoing residuals. It makes RF2 a simracing OS. Not that I want RF2 to follow in the footsteps of Microsoft, but if targeted ads start popping up on track billboards and fencing around tracks during the Friday Night Fight…

The January Roadmap Update just squeaked in under the wire. I'm not sure if they are trying to sync it with the end of each month or are just getting complacent about this commitment to keep the community informed, but these used to be mid-month.

The new trailer strategically tops off the piece. Full of artsy-fartsy slow-mo/shallow DoF drama clips, it is meant to wow us and show off the sim and you have to be pretty jaded not to be impressed.

After the feel good trailer, we get another mention on optimization in DX11 and how future development will be much better now that DX9 has been deprecated. I wonder how long this diplomatic repetition will continue...until the DX9 whiners completely give up?

On content, the only admissions are Portland coming up later in the year, improvements and enhancements to Zandvoort and a laser scanned secret, more on that anon. I hope they are simply tight-lipped about upcoming content, because that is quite a short list.

More revelations about the new upcoming HUD is accompanied by a screen shot. One of the more exiting things for me, excuse me if this sounds a touch Sheldon-Cooper-nerdish, is the change in font for the HUD and apparently the Chat too. No, I have no interest in the art of fonts, in fact that is exactly what I find a failing in RF2, i.e. that font choice appears to be a "creative expression" for the HUD and UI designers with little to no thought for readability. The one displayed shows a smaller font (screens of 1080p and better are ubiquitous now) and with a much narrower pitch which goes a long ways towards making it easier to read fast. Good riddance to the fat blocky font that you could hardly focus on let alone read quickly. Must have been near impossible for a Dislexic person to get at all. I'm not sure if they made a conscious effort to improve readability, but the choice shown achieves it for me.

More about KartSim is revealed. It appears to be a serious attempt to attract real karters, especially given a pro-level version for serious cash. It doesn't interest me so much that I would shell out the CDN$30+ for a kart focused sim alone but it does concern me that S397 may never make a further effort to improve their own karts if they'd end up competing with a partner. It is the one issue that worries me about S397's support for paid content: that their might be a formal or informal understandings that S397 would not develop free content, whether or not they have or could get a licence, where it might conflict with these types of partnerships.

Finally we see a departure from ISI's philosophy regarding the need for laser-scanning tracks. ISI always argued that the construction and engineering data they received from the licencer was enough to produce an accurate rendition of any track. However it seems that, if nothing else, the marketing currency of having "LASER-scanned" tracks is perhaps something they cannot afford to ignore in order to be taken seriously in the simracing genre whether or not it makes for a substantially better model.

Nothing on the competition system again. Curious by it's continued omission.

i did not know they now have hot lap competitions - just signed up for the megane at Malaysia - there is also a radical hot lap - takes you to the same type of page worlds fastest gamer had - i haven't done a lap yet but signed up through steam

That's an interesting observation, Cookie. I did post the links to the forum announcements in the PSR Discord channel, but I was unaware that they would be using a form of the promised Competition System. S397 did indicate that the WFG competition last summer used a system on which their future Competition System would be based. I wonder if what they are using for the two fast-lap competitions is a further development of the concept or just a promotional event using the same version that was used in the WFG. It certainly is curious that they would be staid and silent for a beta test rather than giving us the usual we're-testing-now-almost-ready-to-launch hype. On the other hand, the forum now has an "Official Competitions" sub-forum under the "General Discussions" section. Mmmmm.https://forum.studio-397.com/index.php?forums/official-competitions.214/

Again, this is mostly about what's been going on rather than anything immediately in the pipe. It still feels disappointing in many ways.

Those of us who have sprung for the high-end hardware may not be all that enthusiastic of performance improvements, but anything that will embrace the larger community of people who cannot afford to carve such a substantial chunk out of the household budget for gaming should make it better for all of us. S397 continues to "chip away" at it, cautiously promising "a substantial performance boost and higher frame-rates across the board" soon.

Corvette C7.R GTE/GTLM is slated for a late April release as part of an upcoming pack. No mention of such a pack being paid DLC, so I'm hoping they're not going to spring that detail on us later. Wouldn't be cool IMO.

The Norma M30 LMP3 is announced as upcoming content. That is the entire substance of the announcement which leaves one with nothing but questions, like, is this a newly acquired license or something that is pending release soon?...and who the hell names a car "Norma"?

Here's the BIG news: Sebring will be S-397's first laser-scanned track. Trouble with that is if Sebring turns out to be truly sickeningly bumpy like the old RF1 & early RF2 versions, I'll just have to suck it up and live with it. That said, it will be nice to have such a storied circuit with inarguable accuracy for RF2. A couple of months before it's finished? End of April too?

The new HUD has been tripped up by "few bugs that lay dormant deep in the code". So sadly yet another delay however, there's a promise that it will be in the next build...whenever that will be.

The UI is progressing by "leaps and bounds", says Elliott, but then he spoils is by saying they're spending time on the replay feature that, IMO, caters more to YouTube creators than racers like us. Oh good, I appear to have refrained from using bad, bad words at least.

The Competition System is described as being "not far off". That they have a "full time team" on the project bodes well I'd say. Chris' verb tense seems to suggest that the recent competitions were indeed tests of at least some aspects of it but it could be just bad grammar. I don't give good grammar marks for "Our next big task has been..."

The consumer version of the paid DLC KartSim is mentioned again as being in its final testing and polishing accompanied by some very poorly framed depth-of-field screenshots (NOT the best use depth-of-field) that on close inspection of what is in focus, shows a stunningly intricate model. For anyone krazy for karts, be they simracers or real karters, this may be exciting but that it enters a market full of free stuff for the same audience, as $DLC it better be.

Finally Chris announces there is going to be a dedicated space on the forum for folks to be posting their paint artwork, videos, screenshots, etc.. And for everyone who has complained about the loss of DL locations for old and new painting templates, it sounds like the whole collection will be part of the base install along with "streamlining templates and their extra parts" to reduce "guesswork". I do hope the first target is the Radical GT3...did anyone try to paint that convoluted thing for the GT3 pack skin competition last year?